


Learning to Walk Again

by ericsonclan



Series: OG World [4]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23255539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Louis tries to help Clementine as she learns how to walk with her prosthetic leg.
Relationships: Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: OG World [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TWDG finally got my writing fanfic and now I'm hooked XD This is the very first fanfic I wrote to explore the healing process the surviving kids went through after the end of the game. I hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> (by Laura)

“Alright, you ready or do you need another minute?” Louis’ voice broke through Clementine’s thoughts and brought her back to this moment. 

She looked down at the wooden appendage laying where the bottom third of her leg used to be. Willy had been tinkering with the prosthetic for weeks now, with everyone else at Ericson giving their two cents on its design as well. When he had presented it to her this morning, Willy looked so excited that Clem had to lower her eyes for a second to hide her initial reaction. She knew he had stayed up nights struggling to create the leg and she deeply appreciated that, but somehow seeing Willy holding the leg out to her just made what had happened all the more real. She wasn’t dealing with a broken leg; those crutches weren’t simply a temporary fix. She would either depend on them the rest of her life or she would have to learn how to walk again with a hunk of wood for a leg.

Though most of the kids were caught up in the excitement of the new leg finally being revealed, Clem caught Louis’ frown as their eyes met. He could tell she wasn’t as happy about the prosthetic as they’d been expecting. When Willy offered to help her into it so she could start walking right away, Louis stepped in and suggested everybody give Clem some space while she got used to the new leg. Plucking the prosthetic from her limp hands, Louis had directed AJ to grab Clementine’s crutches. Once she was up, Clementine followed him over to the greenhouse where they’d be away from prying eyes as everyone went about their daily work.

It had taken some finagling to figure out how to buckle the bootstraps that kept the prosthetic in place, but with concentrated teamwork and a few jokes on Louis’ part they had finally gotten it secure. Now Clementine was simply staring at the prosthetic while Louis awkwardly twiddled his thumbs, not wanting to push her farther than she was ready to go. Finally, Clementine broke the silence.

“I’m ready,”

With concentrated effort, she began to rise up on her new leg, grasping Louis shoulders tightly. Louis kept his arms firmly around her waist, not wanting to risk a fall. Once she was stable, he loosened his grip slightly.

‘Everything alright so far?”

Clem grunted in response, trying to shift her weight.

“Y’know, comfort is one of the features we’re testing here, so be sure not to hold back on saying how it feels,”

“It doesn’t have to be comfortable, just functional,” Clementine responded, gritting her teeth as she tried to raise her good leg. She dropped it with a cry of pain, tilting backwards. Louis attempted to catch her, but ended up simply easing her fall to the ground.

“You alright? There’s no bleeding, right?” Louis frantically reached out to check her leg. Clementine angrily pushed his hand away.

“No, of course not! Just give me a minute, OK? I’ve got to catch my breath,”

Louis looked up toward the main building, searching his memory for something they could use as padding between the prosthetic and her stump. There were a lot of possibilities. He wasn’t sure what would work best.

“Clem?” Louis tried to catch her eyes, but they were glued to the ground. “Just wait a minute, OK? I’m gonna go grab something to use as padding. I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” After waiting a few seconds and seeing that she wasn’t going to respond, Louis pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, glanced down to make sure her gun was securely holstered to her side, then went sprinting in the direction of the main building.

He returned after about five minutes, arms full of sheets, blankets, pillows, a curtain and other bits and bobs he’d picked up in his mad dash through the school. A moment of panic set in when Clementine wasn’t where he’d left her. 

But a stifled groan quickly drew his eyes about a dozen feet away where Clementine was desperately clinging to the ivy covered walls. With her chin set low in fierce determination, Clem dragged herself forward another step, her back turned to Louis. Her prosthetic dragged lamely across the ground, the hinge meant to simulate her ankle causing the foot piece to tilt behind the main trunk of the prosthetic. Clementine shook the leg to snap the part back in place, then took a shaky breath as she stabilized the leg. She was clearly dreading the next step. But she still went for it. As she attempted to place her weight onto the prosthetic, her body tensed in pain and she crumpled to the ground once more with an indignant, desperate cry.

Louis rushed over, dumping the load of fabric behind him. “Clem! Clem, are you okay?”

She turned herself around just as he reached her. Her body slumped against the wall in defeat. Sweat shone on her brow and her chest was heaving. She had never looked so exhausted. Yet as Louis reached out to brush a limp curl from her face, he didn’t see the despair he had expected in her face. Instead he saw a deep, silent fury.

“Wow, babe, you made it so far while I was gone! Usain Bolt who, amirite?” Louis chuckled nervously.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t try to lighten the mood. I know it’s what you do, but… I just can’t now. OK?”

“OK,” Louis agreed softly. “Whatever you need,”

“What I need is a new leg,”

He didn’t know how to respond to that.

Clementine sighed. “I’ve already wasted so much time. I knew it was foolish, stupid, to think this leg would be the answer, but if someone needs to fetch my crutches for me one more time…” Her voice broke and she bit her lip fiercely.

“Hey,” Louis whispered, putting a hand behind her head and bringing his forehead to touch hers. “Just breathe for a second, OK? Let me hear you breathe. C’mon, just like I’ve seen you do with AJ.”

Clem took a shaky breath, held it for a second, then let it out. She repeated this a few times as Louis kept his head pressed to hers. He could feel her heartbeat pounding through her forehead. Once it had calmed a bit, he pulled back and tried to look her in the eyes. When she finally raised her eyes to meet his, Louis’ heart broke when he saw how red-rimmed they were. He silently pulled his girlfriend into his arms, reorienting the two of them so that his back now rested against the wall while Clem’s lay on his shoulder. He felt his shirt grow damp as the tears Clem had been holding back finally came out. Tears began to run down Louis’ face as he listened to the girl he loved sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his fingers running through the ends of her hair. “I’m so sorry Clem. If I hadn’t jumped that fence, if I just stayed with you and AJ…”

“No,” Clem pushed herself off of his chest to sit straight. “No, Louis, don’t talk like that. You couldn’t have known what would happen,”

“But I should have been there for you! Fuck, Clem, you saved me just days before and this is how I repay you? If AJ hadn’t had the sense to do what he did, god, if we had found you any later than we did… I can’t lose you, Clem. I can’t lose anybody else,” Louis cupped Clem’s face with one hand, looking at her with determination. “I’m gonna be stronger Clem, you hear me? Everything’s gonna be OK. Aasim and I are bringing back food every day. Ruby’s been patrolling and patching the wall – nothing’s getting in that we don’t know about. And Willy’s going to keep working on your goddamn leg until he gets it right! We’re going to give you all the time you need, Clem, every day that you and Violet need to heal, we’ll give that to you. I’m not giving up, Clem. I’m gonna be here every step of the way till you get on your feet again. I won’t let you down,”

Now it was Clem’s turn to wipe the tears from her boyfriend’s eyes. God, to be in a situation like this, but to be in it with someone like Louis… she had thought for so long that AJ was all she needed. She would look out for AJ and he would look out for her to the bitter end. But now she had others by her side, a family who had stuck by her, a boy who was willing to hold her up when she didn’t have anything left to give. The world was unbelievably shitty. She’d known that for a long time. But the world had also given her Louis, which was more than she’d ever expected in this lifetime. Slowly, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“Thank you, Louis. For not giving up on me,”

“I’ll never give up on you,”

“I know,” Clementine murmured. “I may not always remember, but I know. I’m not giving up either.”

Louis smiled at that, pulling Clem into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a good 30 seconds before pulling apart and looking down at the prosthetic that stuck out from Clem’s leg at angle, sprawled across the ground.

Louis sighed and let a rueful grin cross his lips. “I know it’ll break his little heart, but we gotta tell Willy that that things is a hunk of junk,”

Clem snorted. “C’mon, it’s not that bad. But you’re right, it does need some padding. Probably a tighter fit on the ankle joint as well,”

“Well, I believe that is some primo information we have garnered from this, our first of many experiments. Shall we return to the group and report back?”

“I’m right behind you,” Clem quipped. “Or I will be as soon as you grab my crutches,”

“As Her Majesty commands,” Louis said with a wink, lifting Clementine off of his lap and gently placing her on the ground before running to get her crutches. Clementine leaned forward to unbuckle the failed prosthetic from her stump, chucking it to the side with vindictive pleasure. Louis offered her a hand up, making sure she was secure on her crutches before reaching for the prosthetic then groaning as she noticed the pile of bedding that was scattered across the yard.

“I could take a pillow,” Clem offered. “Just stuff it under one of my arms. Or I could try balancing it on my head,”

“Na ah ah. As much of a delight as that would be to watch and we should totally make some sort of competition out of it at a later date, I will be cleaning up my own mess.” After running around for a few seconds, Louis had the towering pile of bedding under control with Clem’s prosthetic tucked under one arm. “After you milady,”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Clem made her way through the entrance to the greenhouse then looked back at him with a smile.

“Louis?”

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you for all your help today,”

“For you, my darling Clementine? Anything.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine struggles to deal with phantom limb pain from her missing leg.

The phantom limb pain hadn’t gone away. It remained as a dull ache hovering within the portion of Clementine’s leg that was so longer there. She tried to ignore it, buckling her prosthetic on each morning and getting on with her day, but the ever-present pain was wearing her down. At times it got worse, the ache transforming into a burning pain that shot all the way up her leg, stealing her sleep, sending her body into a cold sweat that left her exhausted come morning.

She knew that the others had noticed the pain. Though she tried her best to hide it, there were times when Clementine couldn’t hold back the grimace that constantly wanted to make its way to the surface or her voice would falter and she’d cry out mid-sentence as sharper, searing pain tore through what remained of her leg. Ruby offered painkillers and occasionally Clementine would take them, but she didn’t want to burn through the rest of their medical supply. She was months into losing her leg. If she couldn’t learn to live with this pain now, what would she do when the drugs ran out? Clementine couldn’t allow herself to become dependent on them.

The others would step in whenever they could. Louis or Aasim would often come alongside to support her if it looked like the pain would make her fall. A.J. was always offering to take on her chores or do extra ones to make her life easier. Though Violet couldn’t help around the school as much as before, she’d often sit with Clementine when the pain got especially bad, distracting her the best she could with anecdotes or random shit she came up with on the spot. And Willy continued to work tirelessly on prosthetic prototypes to help improve her function and comfort. Clementine was currently on the third model: great improvements, but still a ways to go.

Louis spent every spare moment he had by Clementine’s side. Whether it be making sure she was eating and sleeping OK, telling jokes, playing the piano or listening to her thoughts, her boyfriend was always available. With how much he hovered round her, Clementine sometimes wondered if he took any time for himself. She knew the events surrounding the Delta had shook Louis to his core. They’d lost so many during those days; Louis wanted to ensure that never happened again. With less able-bodied and grownup members than ever before, Louis took on more hunting, watch duties and other daily tasks than the others said he ever had before. Clementine was proud of him, but she wished he didn’t have to do so much; she wished she could help carry his burdens rather than being one herself.

\---

It was a particularly cold night when Clementine felt the phantom pain take over her body once more. Her missing leg throbbed relentlessly; she couldn’t get it to stop. Clementine tried lying still, going through numbered lists and imaginary sheep in her head, trying to distract herself from the pain. It only seemed to swallow her up more. She shifted on her bed, trying to sit up. That only caused the pain to spread, jumping over into her other leg and burning it as well. Clementine let out an involuntary cry.

“Clem?”

She had woken A.J. He’d always been a light sleeper, which meant bad nights often led to him not sleeping well either. Clementine tried to calm her breathing so she could tell A.J. it was nothing to worry about and to go back to sleep. Instead another wave of pain coursed through her, incapacitating her. Clementine collapsed back against the bed, whimpering. “A.J., get Louis,”

A.J. immediately obeyed, scampering down the hall to where Louis slept. She could hear his boots travelling swiftly across the floor before the door opened and Louis stood before her. Immediately Louis crawled up onto the bed, taking Clementine into his arms. “Clem, it’s OK. We’re gonna get through this. Where does it hurt?”

“B-both legs,” Clementine gasped.

Louis helped her shift so she was sitting upright, her back against his. His hands went to both of her legs, kneading firmly. Sometimes the feeling helped ground Clementine. But the pain was too great tonight. Tears rolled down Clementine’s cheeks despite her best efforts to hold them back.

A.J. watched worriedly. “Should I get Ruby too?”

“No!” Clementine was emphatic. “We’re not wasting any more medicine on this,”

Louis’ face nuzzled against her clammy cheek, his nose buried in her curls. “Clem, if it helps-”

“I said no,”

The room was silent for a moment, both boys watching helplessly as Clementine struggled to breathe through the pain.

“A.J.,” Louis turned to look at the young, frightened boy, “I need you to get me something from my room. There’s a mirror in my closet. It’s pretty big. See if you can carry it on your own,”

“On it!” A.J. exclaimed, running out of the room.

The leg massage wasn’t doing any good, so Louis moved his hands upwards, gently tracing her arms before reaching her face. He wiped away the tears, humming a soft tune under his breath. Clementine recognized it. It was the same one she used to hum to A.J. when he cried, something she’d shared with Louis months ago. She felt Louis’ arms circling her shoulders, pulling her tighter against him. She tried to focus on the pressure of his chest against her back. Louis was real. He was here; her leg wasn’t. How could that pain live on when the cause of it was gone?

“Found it!” A.J’s afro peeked out from above the mirror as he ran into the room holding it up. The mirror was certainly large, almost taller than him. It was covered in a myriad of cracks, but still usable. The moonlight reflecting off the mirror’s surface seemed to brighten the room as A.J. set it down.

“Great job, buddy. Now if you could bring that chair over here and lean the mirror against it, that’d be great,” Louis instructed. While A.J. moved the mirror into place, Louis shifted Clementine in his arms, moving her towards the edge of the bed until her good leg dangled off of it, Louis’ own legs firmly settled on the floor on either side of her. “Clem, I want you to look down at the mirror,” Louis directed. “Look at where your lower leg used to be,”

Clementine followed his guidance. Even by the limited light of the moon she could see her amputated leg clearly. Her pants leg was tucked up around it, tied off directly below the knee so it wouldn’t drag as she walked. Everything below that point was gone.

“Aasim and I did some digging through the library,” Louis whispered in her ear. “There weren’t a lot of medical books, but we did find one encyclopedia that mentioned phantom limb pain. That’s the name Ruby mentioned. It said the pain has something to do with your brain sending signals to the missing limb, like it doesn’t know it’s not there. I figured maybe if your eyes could see that the leg’s not there anymore, it could help your brain catch up,”

It sounded odd, but it was worth a shot. Clementine continued to look at the place where her leg used to be. Nothing but an empty span of mattress looked back at her. Sitting there in silence, watching the reflection, Clementine felt her heartbeat slow down. She wasn’t panicking anymore. The pain that had been spreading throughout her body was localized again, the steady throbbing centering once more underneath her left knee. The pain was still there though.

Clementine’s fingers reached down, tracing the point of amputation. She felt like a fool being crippled by this pain. The bleeding had stopped long ago, all risk of infection gone. Ruby had told Clementine that the wound had healed beautifully, the best they could have hoped for. Yet here she was wide awake in the middle of the night shedding tears when there was nothing left to heal. The wound had closed, but the pain remained and it was driving her insane. A sudden thought flittered across the corner of Clementine’s mind. Without looking away from the mirror, she blindly reached out.

“A.J., bring me my knife,”

“OK…” A.J. seemed uncertain but went over to the dresser, grabbing her weapon.

“Clem, what are you planning?” Louis asked. His grip round her had almost imperceptibly tightened.

“There’s just something I need to try,” Clementine accepted the knife from A.J. She felt the weight of it in her hands, balanced, real. She looked back towards the mirror. Before either boy could stop her, Clementine let out an angry cry, bringing her knife down and embedding it in the mattress below her knee.

“Clem, what the fuck!” Louis exclaimed, jumping back instinctively before leaning forward to see what had happened. “What did you-”

“Don’t move it!” Clementine ordered, lifting up a hand in warning. Her eyes were locked upon the knife. She’d driven it all the way down to its hilt. Only the handle protruded from her bed, sticking out directly below the point of amputation. She’d stabbed her phantom limb. She’d attacked the leg her body had insisted was there and nothing had happened. She hadn’t felt anything… because it wasn’t there. Clementine’s shoulders sagged in relief. For the first time in days the pain was completely gone.

“That was awesome!” A.J. exclaimed, his eyes bright with excitement. “It looked like you were gonna stab yourself and then woosh!” He imitated the striking motion over his own leg.

Louis gently took hold of Clementine’s chin, tilting her face back to look at him. “Are you OK? Holy shit, I wasn’t expecting a move like that,”

Clementine weakly nodded. “I don’t know how, but I think that finally helped my brain catch up like you said. Can’t feel pain from a stabbing if nothing got stabbed,” She was going to say more, but her body was suddenly overcome with a yawn.

A smile broke across Louis’ face. “You’re as badass as always. Want me to lay you back down?”

Clementine shook her head before letting it drop against his chest. “Stay,”

“Alright then,” Gently Louis shifted back on the bed, scooting until his own back was against the wall. “Guess we’re all going to get a good night’s sleep,”

Clementine murmured in approval. She could hear the bed across the room creak as A.J. jumped back onto it.

“Night, Clem! Night, Louis!”

“Night, kiddo,” Louis responded. His hand reached up to brush a stray curl from Clementine’s cheek before drifting down to circle round her waist. “Goodnight, darling,”

Clementine was too tired to respond. A contented sigh escaped her lips before long-awaited sleep finally overtook her.


End file.
